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Mapo Tofu Recipe

Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐) is one of those dishes that is almost always universally loved. It’s flavorful but simple, it’s got some meat but isn’t a meat dish and it’s spicy but not uncontrollably so. Recently, I learned mom has a go-to, quick-fire recipe she uses when she has a package of tofu in the fridge and some ground pork in the freezer*, which is about 97% of the time.

Unfortunately, the day I decided to make this dish, mom was out of town. So I asked her to email me the recipe and she did. But in true mom fashion, her version was missing the ingredients list, ingredient amounts and a couple steps. But never fear, I was able to fill in the blanks and create a dish that the hubs is now obsessed with.

*Pro tip: Always keep ground pork in the freezer – it can be used for a million trillion Chinese dishes.

Ingredients

1 pkg tofu (medium or soft)

1/4 pound ground pork

3 tbsp corn starch

3 tbsp water

4 tbsp spicy red bean sauce

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp chili oil

Cooking oil

1 tsp Chinese peppercorn powder

Instructions

Cut tofu into dice-sized cubes. Then let them sit for 15 min to drain some water out.

Sautee minced garlic with oil in a hot pan, add ground pork and fry until it’s dry/crumbly and a little brown.